The Dead Sea has been nicknamed the “fountain of youth” because minerals found in its waters are known to hydrate and benefit the skin, making swimmers appear younger. When a private resident in Malibu, Calif., wanted to create her own fountain of youth, she enlisted RWS Corp. - Rayne of Santa Monica to turn her 2,000-gal spa/Jacuzzi pool into a 500-gal soaking pool that mimics the Dead Sea.

RWS installed a 2-hp recirculating pump, which pushes the water from the pool to a 1,550-gal storage tank. The water then is slowly gravity fed back down to the soaking pool. To match the salinity of the Dead Sea, which can reach 300,000 ppm or more, RWS purchased salt directly from the Dead Sea to mix into the water, and then installed a reverse osmosis system with deionization polishing as a pretreatment for the water and salt mix.

The owner requested that the pool be able to heat to 80°F within two hours. Most commercially available pool heaters, however, are not designed for use in saltwater. With water eight times saltier than seawater, most pool heaters would react with the chlorides and deteriorate relatively quickly. Contractors looked at many heaters and thermal blankets; however, there was no solution that could accommodate the owner’s requests. RWS installed a commercial pool heater with titanium cores, specially ordered for higher quality, which will be replaced annually.

In order to maintain mineral levels and water quality parameters, the soaking pool must undergo a partial water change every 90 days. A 500-gal valved isolation tank was designed and filled with purified water for topoff. This water will be mixed with new salt when the water needs to be changed.